Pet Peeves from Teachers - Page 1

Page 1 The pet peeves below were submitted by people around the world, both teachers and students. We thank you for your submissions! We sincerely hope that those who submitted them were able to blow off some steam and feel better now. We also hope that those who are reading these will also feel better. Enjoy! (To submit a peeve, post at the bottom of this page)

HEY! In my art room I make my kids laugh. I teach K through 5. I love my job. My PEEVE is when kids moan and whine and complain that "You are making me work". HELLO! I find soooo many kids are lazy and do not want to "work" on fun stuff. Many of them think it is a race to see who finishes first. They say, "I'm DONE" and I say, "Do you have grill marks on your back? Because when you are "done" you usually have been cooked on the grill." I stress to them that when you complete something, you are "finished". Most often they are not finished.

(-Submitted by Paul David. Picture at right)

Students who always trace their artwork.

Students who waste paper and throw their art away.

Students who don't show their artwork to their families. It usually ends up in the bottom of their desks or in the garbage.

Students who do artwork on wrinkled notebook paper with lines on it.

Web pages that are interesting, and just when you are totally into them, they end.... (submitted by Jay "B."

When kid's computer art programs keep kids from creating their own art by providing clip art and stamps. (submitted by Sheva Gross)

People who have talent and don't use it. (submitted by Jennie Southworth)

When you tell your 10 year olds in art class not to draw horses anymore and to be more creative, they draw unicorns! (submitted by Pat Reser)

No matter how hard we promote, display, and teach, the budgets given us for our classroom are ridiculous. (submitted by Donna Rollins)

When students do their artwork and then leave their mess for me to clean up as if I were their mother. (submitted by Ms. Spellman)

Kids who don't sign their artwork. (Submitted by Miss N., Rochester City Schools)

Art educators who only teach craft, and how-to projects.

Art educators who aren't artists or haven't practiced in years.

Art educators who teach their students formulas for how they make art.

Art educators who teach the same curriculum year after year.

Art educators who don't have a clue about art from the last 20 years. (All 5 submitted by Treasure Smith)

Constantly having to justify your Visual Art Program. People still don't see the importance of the arts! (Submitted by Elissa Astorino)

When people don't care and don't try to draw. (Submitted by Amy Moore)

Birds drawn that look like "V" birds (or "W" birds) and students who chop up erasers with their scissors. (submitted by Steve Shenefiel)

How about galleries that won't consider viewing a web site. 'Twenty slides only please!'. The question is, if you were a serious art collector, wouldn't you want to be working with a gallery able to keep up with modern tech? (submitted by Steve King)

When a person tears the labels off of crayons (etc.) and one cannot tell if they are blue, black, or purple. (Submitted by "Aaron the student" or "Aaron da superfreak"- your choice.)

Students who tear down or vandalize art work that is the hallway. (Submitted by Laura Rhodes-Kiser Middle School, Dayton, Ohio.)

When I read art curricula and publications (including those from my board of ed) that say art teachers must provide students with a "variety of art materials" when I don't even receive enough money to provide the bare necessities like paper! Last year I received $1.75 per child to provide a year's worth of art experiences! Needless to say, it was impossible to do so without spending a good part of my salary. (Submitted by Carolyne Tighe, art teacher in an intermediate public school)

Administrators who believe the only duty an art teacher has is BULLETIN BOARDS and decorating for every single holiday and season. [Forgetting the teaching of all students in a building, keeping records, doing report cards, hall duty, coordinating department meetings, etc.] (Submitted by Sarah K. of Utica, N.Y.)

The day you start painting with watercolors, they turn off all of the water in the building. (Submitted by Laura Walker)

Students who still don't understand that a painting needs to be painted--in other words, a student who paints a beautiful alien and says "I'm finished", when all I can see is the vast expanse of white paper left around the alien!! (Submitted by Nancy Tompkins, Hoboken, NJ.)

Students who come into class, plop down, and immediately start thumping on the table with their fingers as if playing the "tableh" (the Arabic drum with the sheepship on the top and open bottom). (Submitted by M. Shukri)

When administrators take your art room away and require "Art on a Cart", without realizing how difficult it is to manage your classes and supplies without a place to call home, unless you call the stage in the cafeteria (you share with the gym teacher and a hundred different types of balls) home. Maybe the administrators should try it first! (Submitted by Stephanie W.)

Students whose unfinished artwork is "good enough". (Submitted by Robert Lange in Athens)

Art teachers who crumple up any darwing I make that wasn't "What I asked for". (Submitted by "Hurricane")

My biggest pet peeve about being in art education is that the so-called "regular" classroom teachers routinely refer to me as "JUST the art teacher" (Submitted by Debbi in Indiana)

My pet peeve is students who take art as an "easy-out" and who would rather not be in school anyways. They are usually disruptive and prevent the students who want to learn from getting the attention they deserve. I swear that sometimes 90% of my time was usurped by these poor kids (yes, I do have empathy for their poor life situations, but I'm there to teach ART!) Lack of administrative support drained me of the desire to pursue this field any further after my student teaching experience. (Submitted by Joe Hubbard)

Administrators who don't realize that you have a planned
curriculum and are always suggesting ideas for painting hallways to
spruce the place up a bit. (Submitted by Carole Neff)

People who try to define "good" art and "bad" art. (Submitted by Lee Luckeydoo)

Students who cut a 2" shape from the MIDDLE of a 12"x18" piece of paper.

Students who poke their pencils, scissors, or whatever into the glue bottles.

Teachers, staff, and parents who think you are the "real" art teacher's assistant.

Classroom teachers who resent you "messing up" their room or taking away their planning time; as if we wouldn't give anything to have a room of our own.

I hate that all of the U. S. systems do not have what I have: a beautiful classroom(housing Elementary and Middle School), Loving encouraging colleagues, Listening supportive Parent Teacher Organization, Giving parents, a back flipping-cheerleading hilarious Principal and 650 "ready to go at top speed" children! (Way to go, Shannon!- Ken) (Submitted by Shannon, Art Teacher-Bethany, Oklahoma)

Administration, coworkers and parents who don't see the need to inform us about physically, mentally, or behaviorally challenged kids or seek our input when making decisions about their education.

Anyone who thinks I just teach kids how to draw. I teach reading, writing, math, science, history, world cultures and religions, geography, spelling, craftsmanship, visual and verbal expression, symbolism, recycling and reuse, aesthetic perception, research, personal and collective responsibility, technology, cooperation and kindness all within my art classes. And so do you. (Submitted by Dawn Kruger)

Teachers that year after year "win" regional and national art scholarships/and awards for their students by photographing subject matter and letting students duplicate the photo with grid methods or projector assistance or out and out plagiarism from well-known geographical based magazines. The same teachers serve as board directors for these scholastic based art awards. How can a self-portrait be so exquisitely lit and foreshortened if the student is drawing himself? The student must use a good focal length camera with a very long bulb attachment. (-Anonymous) [I had a teacher like that myself- Ken]

Administrators who love to advertise that they have schools with National Blue Ribbon status, but have since sabotaged the art programs that got them the award. (-Anonymous)

HEY! In my art room I make my kids laugh. I teach K through 5. I love my job. My PEEVE is when kids moan and whine and complain that "You are making me work". HELLO! I find soooo many kids are lazy and do not want to "work" on fun stuff. Many of them think it is a race to see who finishes first. They say, "I'm DONE" and I say, "Do you have grill marks on your back? Because when you are "done" you usually have been cooked on the grill." I stress to them that when you complete something, you are "finished". Most often they are not finished.

(-Submitted by Paul David)

Classroom teachers who ask why I need a planning period (I get 2 per week compared to their daily plan time!) (-submitted by Katie)

Barbara submits her top 20 peeves:

Bicycle spoke suns

Cotton candy clouds

"V" and "M" birds

Squirrel hole trees

White space between the "sky" and the "earth"

Food, drink, gum and/or electronics in the art room

Wasting paper

Pulling the metal strip out of the ruler

Poor composition

Trite images

Plagiarism

Laziness

Clay on the ceiling

Crumbling the art gum

Whining

Quitting

Outlines

Leaving the cap off of the markers

Students who want to avoid getting "messy"

Students who "borrow" without asking

People higher up on the educational chain of command that simply place all the difficult and less smart students in art because "well, they don't need to be a good speller for that!"

My biggest pet peeve in a class is when i am either older than the rest or i am more experienced in the art topic ( my parents are both artists and my dad's an art high school teacher) and the teacher sees I've finished fast and thinks

a) she must've just rushed through that, or
b) they give me a new project